Actually I think you are very wrong. The grades that people with experience get to are as bad as you perceive.
Problem is too many news outlets talk about the starting salary - not the salaries after a couple of years.
My misses would be on over £45k if she was full time now
When my wife first started working for a council that was more or less true, as a PA (and many years later a Surestart Manager) the PA salary was a couple of grand less than the private sector. Within about ten years that situation had totally reversed, she was earning several grand more than her peers in the private sector, longer holidays and of course the pension. When she transferred to Surestart the council sponsored her on a degree course and on a road to serious money, and eventually, a very nice redundancy package.